AS I sat contemplating that the apple fritter on the top of my peppered calves liver and black pudding Lancashire hash brown was one frill too many, a helicopter touched down in the grounds of the Devonshire Arms.

The passengers stayed only for coffee - something I understood after I'd finished my meal, which had started with crabcakes and ended with crumble.

The brasserie of this country house hotel in Yorkshire wasn't particularly special; you could get that kind of meal in any pub in the area.

But the helicopter should have brought back its cargo of people in the evening, when the difference in food was amazing. I certainly wasn't expecting to find the kind of meal I had in the middle of the Dales.

Four High Petergate & Bistro, York

A trim hotel in a Georgian town house nudging one of four medieval gateways

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BACKGROUND

• Guy Fawkes Inn, York

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• Hotel du Vin, The Mount, York

• Four High Petergate & Bistro, York

BACKGROUND

• Feversham Arms, Helmsley, North Yorkshire

• The Blue Lion, East Witton, North Yorkshire

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BACKGROUND

• Star Inn, Harome, North Yorkshire

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• Great Victoria Hotel, Bradford, West Yorkshire

We opted for the nine-course tasting menu at £60 a head, which was pretty spectacular at times. My favourite was the main - loin of Lakeland venison on creamed quinoa, braised oxtail and glazed chestnuts with juniper jus. It was a brilliant and well-executed dish that perfectly captured the imagination, season and our location.

The red wine we sipped - we'd opted for an additional wine package at £50 each - was the Napanook, Dominus Estate from the Napa Valley, which was a sensational choice, its depth matching the dish's complexity, its aroma reminding me of black winter truffles.

To get to the main course, I'd munched my way through an appetiser of mosaic of game with ham and butternut squash sorbet, then two fish dishes separated by a subtle plate of pork belly with Moroccan spices and poached langoustines.

The fish was both disappointing and delicious: the gravlax of organic salmon with avocado purée and cucumber jelly used out-of-season avocados and lacked cucumber, and I didn't rate it. But the other course, the lightly salted cod with scallops and a warm cèpe jelly, was cooked to perfection.

Nine courses sounds a lot but they really were very slight portions, almost a miniature version of a tasting menu. Some dishes, such as the starter, were little more than a mouthful, though a delicious one at that.

So it was that I could move on to a cheese board (with a fantastic array of French wares but a disappointing lack of English cheese) followed by not one, but three deserts.

Of these, the best by far was a warm raspberry clafoutis with Yorkshire lemon curd and a subtle cardamom ice-cream setting off the sharper flavours beautifully. It married very well with the Kir Imperial that appeared in a glass before me.

By the time the petits fours arrived, even I was beginning to admit defeat - I could manage only four. Luckily, we didn't have far to go to our room, which was just upstairs, though a little chintzy for my liking.

Considering that this old coaching inn has been part of the Bolton Abbey estate since 1753, I'd have expected a bit more game on the menu.

But it was an impressive meal nonetheless and one that merited the four AA rosettes and a Michelin star the Burlington Restaurant's long-serving head chef Michael Wignell possessed. He has since left to be replaced by Steve Smith, who has had a Michelin star for ten years.

I'd still advise anyone staying to think about going for a lovely, long walk in the Dales at lunchtime and stop at a local pub. That means you can save yourself for a real gourmet extravaganza in the evening.

The Devonshire Arms Country House Hotel and Spa in Skipton, North Yorkshire (01756 718111, www.thedevonshirearms.co.uk).

Michael Caines is food and beverage director of ABode Hotels and executive head chef at Gidleigh Park (www.michaelcaines.com)

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